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The new Audi A4 saloon, Avant, allroad and S4 have been announced, with more efficient engines and an updated design.

The announcement comes just one week after BMW presented the all-new 3 Series, currently the UK's best-selling executive saloon.

Exterior design has been very subtly tweaked, with changes to the headlight clusters and LED daytime running lights, bonnet and front grille, which is now painted grey on four-cylinder models and gloss black on six-cylinder and S line trim models. The rear lights and bumper have been redesigned and every version now has two tailpipes.

Inside, a selection of new steering wheels with chrome inlays and improved trim finishes enhance the perceived quality, for which Audi is already famous. The number of buttons for the MMI controller has also been reduced to clean up the centre console.

Best economy will come from the A4 saloon 2-litre TDI with 135bhp, achieving 67.3mpg and 112g/km of CO2. Though impressive stats for company car drivers, it still doesn't match the imminent arrival of the BMW 320 Efficient Dynamics with 163bhp, 109g/km of CO2 and a combined fuel consumption figure of 68.9mpg.

There are plenty of engines available, with 141, 161, 175, 201 and 242bhp models completing the diesel line-up.

The entry-level petrol engine is a 1.8-litre TFSI with 118bhp, with a 168bhp version also in the offing. The high-powered 1.8 still manages 50.4mpg and emits 134g/km of CO2 - an improvement of 19 per cent over the outgoing version. There will also be a 2-litre TFSI with 208bhp and 3-litre S4 with 328bhp.

Expect pricing to remain similar to the outgoing versions when the cars hit showrooms early in 2012.

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